Chest Workout

Chest Workout

Chest Day
The very thought of it will bring a thrill to most gym rats (me included).  The pectorals are such a nice set of muscles.  They will make or break anyone's physique.  For FEAT clients, chest day is usually hard work.

Men and women need a good chest routine.

This muscle group dominates the upper half of your torso and is responsible for most of the upper body's pushing strength.

Here's a great Chest Day Routine:

Bench Press

Bench Press is a staple exercise for the pecs.  Make sure that you warm-up with a few sets using light weight and then gradually work your way higher.  Use a spotter if you're worried about dropping the bar.  Don't bounce the bar off your chest.  Visualize squeezing your elbows together at the top.  A little extra push at the top will hit your Serratus Anterior muscles which give those nice finger-like bulges on your ribcage.  Do a few lighter warm-up sets and then pyramid up higher before going back down.  Aim for about 8 sets in total.

Cable Crossover

This is a sweet chest exercise.  Grab the handles.  Brace yourself and draw the cables down to the front of your body.  Pause at the end of the range of motion for as little squeeze so that you feel this in the sternal insertion point of the pecs.  Go lighter and aim for 3 sets of 15 reps.

Incline Dumbbell Press

This exercise hits the upper pectoral muscle fibres.  At FEAT, we teach this to clients who want to fill out their upper chest area.  Set the bench at a moderate incline.  Hoist up a pair of dumbbells.  Start them just above shoulder-level.  Press straight up so that your elbows lock-out.  Get a couple of lighter warm-up sets of 15 reps before hitting the nasty dumbbells.  Working sets should be 3 sets of 10 reps.

Parallel Bar Dips

Set the parallel bars wide if they are adjustable.  Set yourself up with your chest leaning forward.  Lower yourself as far as you can go and then push back up until your elbows are fully locked.  Then push for another inch or two (your serratus anterior will thank you).  Do 3 sets of 10.

 

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Tom

 

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Get Ready for Summer

Gain a Few Pounds Over the Winter?

The time to get that blubber off is...a couple of months ago.  But since you can't time-travel you had better start today.  Not only will this extra body fat make you feel self-conscious, it is slowly killing you. 

Cardio?
You are only kidding yourself if you think that just blasting out a ridiculous amount of cardio will get rid of your fat.  The only good thing about doing cardio is that its too difficult to eat crap while you're on a machine.  The bad thing about cardio is that you work-up a big appetite and then use the cardio as an excuse to gorge later. Cardio should only compliment good nutrition.

Magic Food?

I hear this all the time at the gym in Oromocto...eat this...eat that.  "Chia seeds are great".  "Eat organic hemp hearts" etc.  There are a lot of foods that have a great nutritional profile and they will benefit you in moderation...or...they will make you fatter.  Nuts are a great example.  I love Brazil Nuts and they do contain healthy oils but they also pack a lot of calories.  Eat a couple...but that's it!

Portion Control
The key to healthy nutritional fat loss is portion control of what you're eating.  Yeah, eat skinless chicken breast of course.  But just eat one.  For dessert have an ounce of Greek Yogurt.  Eat some fibrous foods or take a fibre supplement like Psyllium seed husk. Yeah, you will still feel a little peckish when you're done.  Deal with it.  Chug some water.  Your stomach is stretched out of shape from years of pizza binges.  You need to give it time to contract back to normal size.  If you blast out tons of cardio and then go home and pig-out; you will stay fat.  Worse - the heavy pounding on your joints from the cardio may lead to arthritis.

Lift Weights
This alone is not the answer either but it is part of the solution.  High intensity weight training will cause you to burn fat.  Lean muscle raises your metabolic rate and contribute to a good fat loss strategy.  Get the big leg and hip muscles working for you.

FEAT training in Oromocto

Don't stick with sissy little weights that you can do 40 reps with.  Do a decent warm-up and then move up to some respectable iron.  Stay safe - but challenge yourself.  3 or 4 sets of a weight that you can barely get 10 reps with.  Afraid of "getting all muscular"?  You wish!  People strive with 100% dedication for years to get muscular.  Many fail.  Nobody ever accidentally got muscular.

Weigh and Measure Yourself
Track your progress.  The scales will only tell part of the story though; so don't get obsessed about weight.  Pick one or two spots to measure and pull out the tape every couple of weeks.

Be consistent with where you measure.

Record your weigh-ins and measurements and review them over the long term.

Determination
Why do most people quit a perfectly good weight-loss plan?  Impatience!  They don't see immediate results; so they quit.  If you like reading crap magazines that promise massive weight-loss in a matter of days you should throw them out and spend your money on something else. 

Tom

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later

www.facebook.com\FEATTraining

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/tom-peppard/79/435/9a9/

 

www.brookstonemassagetherapy.com